As revealed in the memory deep dive, the Framework 16’s second SSD slot is only of the 2230 form factor. Which has various disadvantages:
2230 drives are quite rare still
2230 drives have far lower maximum capacity (and possibly speed)
For my use-case I was looking forward to run two identical 2280 drives in ZFS mirrored mode, which is unfeasible with 2260 due to listed disadvantages.
I request therefore to amend the design of subsequent Framework 16 mainboard generations thus providing 2 x 2280 slots.
"For storage, we’ve put in two M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4x4 sockets, one of which is 2280-sized and other 2230-sized. We attempted to fit two 2280 sockets, but with everything else we’re doing on the Mainboard, we ran out of space. "
There will probably be an expansion bay module that holds two 2280s. Framework has an example of such a module on their github. Now, Framework has not confirmed that they will sell it. But if they don’t, I bet a community member or other 3rd party will.
Yes, I am aware of the deep dive, that’s why I have mentioned it in my post. My point is that this time they had to design the whole notebook under presumably tough time constraints. Having presumably less time constraints for the second+ generations, I imagine to be a way to redesign some part of the mainboard to fit it in.
That might be a good workaround for particular use-cases. Then you are, however, restricted to using this module, i.e. can’t simultaneously use e.g. the dGPU module, if I understand correctly.
There are always going to be time constraints. And the next Framework-16 mainboard will have the additional constraints of needing to fit the existing components. Besides the shell, there are the internal connector locations, cable routing, some heatpipe routing cutouts in the shell. Considering all that, it feels like they will be rather restricted from shifting much around. I just wouldn’t bet on them finding room.
Any laptop just can’t fit every single desire people have. It would weigh 10 kg, have 3 20" fold-out screens, a 360 camera, and need a shoulder strap.
You can still put in two 2TB drives which is plenty of space for most people. You can even use the same model drive if it comes in both sizes like the SN740. Honestly, it’s better than having only one NVMe spot.
I think that’s a reasonable ask. I don’t need to mirror but I’d like the highest performance drive for the OS drive and the largest drive for data. That won’t work with this configuration.
Other laptops have two 2280s so so it’s not impossible. They chose to prioritize other things. Even if it was the best decision they had, they should hear from the people who are disappointed. My current laptop is only a couple years old so I can wait and see what’s next. I suppose if I get one and put the OS on the 2230, it won’t be that bad a performance hit. I’d like to see how the PCIe lanes are divided out. Is the 2230 off the CPU or the chipset?
They chose upgradability and interchangable parts which affects the design layout and requirements.
In these other laptops, what, other than RAM and SSDs, can you replace yourself? Or, for that matter, at all?
Like the people who want ECC and more VRAM, the laptops have been designed with a specific idea, upgradabiity, in mind, it isn’t a bespoke, custom made laptop for everyone that comes and shouts about “essential features”.
If people are disappointed or upset by the lack of a certain feature, don’t buy the laptop, go buy one of the many others on the market that do have your feature or ask Dell, ASUS, Acer etc to add them to their current line or you won’t buy.
It also depends on the specification of the CPU they chose for the second generation of motherboard.
With intel offering not being competitive, I think the most probable choice is AMD Strix point.
Not sure if you noticed, but AMD has been reducing the number of PCI lanes with each generation. Cezanne had 24, Phoenix (current FW16 motherboard) had 20 and now Strix Point has 16.
This means that Framework has to cut somewhere. If they want to keep 8 lanes for the dGPU, it means that they might remove the second SSD or maybe reduce it’s speed to only 2 or 3 lanes (not sure what level of bifurcation is possible with the chip). It’s either that or they can not have a wifi card and I don’t think this would go well.
All this to say that we will be lucky if there is a second SSD and it’s unlikely that it will have the same speed as the first one.
Of course, if framework does not create a motherboard with two 2280 ports, it is better for the buyer to go buy an Asus or other brand laptop because he is not a user for framework.
And the same if you don’t add software to control the fans, the TGP or the TDP.
If framework has not updated its blog for more than a year, the problem lies with the user.
If framework 16 has quality problems it is because the user is not made for the framework.
I don’t know if they know that this is a company and that if you send potential buyers to other companies, framework could go bankrupt.
What the framework has to do is attend to user complaints and not ignore them.